Remember this? No mention of any relationship to SEPR -- don't they retain an interest?
biz.yahoo.com
Versicor and Novartis Collaborate on New Antibacterials Targeting Deformylase and Mur Pathway Enzymes
FREMONT, Calif., April 1 /PRNewswire/ -- Versicor Inc. and Novartis
Pharma AG, Basel Switzerland today announced that they have entered
into a collaboration agreement to discover new antibacterials that inhibit Deformylase and the Mur Pathway.
Deformylases is a metalloenzyme that catalyzes a critical step in bacterial protein biosynthesis. Although many antibacterial drugs work by inhibiting protein synthesis, none of them inhibit deformylase. Versicor has developed cell free and cell based deformylase assays, which have resulted in the identification of in vivo active deformylase inhibitors.
The Mur enzymes A through F are catalysts for the synthesis of a critical bacterial cell wall precursor (UDP-MurNAc-pentapeptide). Although the bacterial cell wall has been a rich source of attractive antibiotic targets, no antibacterial drugs have been discovered that inhibit the Mur B-F enzymes. Versicor's DASA technology allows screening of all six Mur enzymes simultaneously and eliminates the difficulty of accessing the complex substrates which have been a major obstacle to high throughput screening of these targets.
The Versicor and Novartis research collaboration is a three year deal that includes an upfront payment as well as equity, research funding, milestone payments, and royalties in subsequent years. Versicor also has co-promotion rights for the North American hospital sector. The total value of the deal is in excess of $38 million.
The increased resistance to antibiotics has been plaguing the therapies that comprise this $23 billion worldwide market. Discovery of antibacterial drugs based on novel targets with new mechanisms of action is essential for the successful treatment of infections caused by drug resistant pathogens. Inhibitors of deformylase and Mur enzymes present differentiated mechanistic opportunities for this market need.
Novartis is a world leader in Life Sciences with core businesses in Healthcare, Agribusiness and Consumer Health (Nutrition and Self-Medication). In 1998, Novartis Group sales were CHF 31.7 billion, of which CHF 17.5 billion were in Healthcare, CHF 8.4 billion in Agribusiness and CHF 5.8 billion in Consumer Health. The group annually invests more than CHF 3.6 billion in R&D. Headquartered in Basel, Switzerland, Novartis employs about 85,000 people and operates in over 100 countries around the world.
Versicor Inc., a cutting edge biopharmaceutical company, is dedicated to the discovery and development of novel antibiotics. Internally this consists of fully integrated efforts involving functional genomics, high throughput screening, and combinatorial chemistry. External collaborations have provided advanced leads and an early clinical
candidate. |
